Water Pollution

What is water pollution? Water pollution happens when water is badly or harmfully affected due to the addition of large amounts of materials added to the water. An example of water pollution is when a pipe spewing toxic chemicals directly into a river, and when fertilizer from a field is carried into a stream by surface runoff.

          There are different types of water pollution. One is toxic. Toxic in water pollution can happen when pesticides are sprayed. The chemicals in the pesticides are not a natural substance in the aquatic ecosystem.   Thermal pollution is another type of water pollution. This happens when water is used as a coolant near a power or industrial plant and then is returned to the aquatic environment at a higher temperature than it was originally.  Another type of water pollution is called ecological pollution takes place when chemical pollution, organic pollution or thermal pollution are caused by nature rather than by human activity. A volcano eruption might be an example of ecological pollution (http://www.mbgnet.net/fresh/pollute.htm).

Power plants help contribute to water pollution also. According to Michael Hawthorne, a Tribune reporter, “Records obtained by the Tribune show that staggering numbers of fish die when pulled into the screens of water intake systems so powerful that most could fill an Olympic swimming pool in less than a minute. Billions more eggs, larvae and juvenile fish that are small enough to pass through the screens are cooked to death by intense heat and high pressure inside the coal, gas and nuclear plants” (Hawthorne, M 2011).

It is time for us as a society to recognize the dangers of water pollution and begin one by one to change pollution. This can happen by educating those who we come in contact with about water pollution and the effect of it. It’s time for a change in our environment.